Cleland davis



N 751,386. PATE'NTED FEB.2,1904.

. 0. DAVIS.

POWDER GRAIN.

APPLIOATION FILED AUG. 6, 1901.

no HODEL.

anuenl'oz THE norms PETFR5 co. PHOYO-LITNQ, WASHXNGTON. n4 2v UNITED 'STTES Patented February 2, 1904 PATENT OFFICE.

. CLELAND DAVIS, OF THE UNITED STATES NAVY.

POWDER-GRAIN.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 751,386, dated February2, 1904.

' Application filed August a, 1901. Serial No. 71,096. (No m eL) T0 (1,whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, GLELAND DAVIS, lieutenant,United States Navy,stationed at Washington, in the District of Columbia, have in- Ventedcertain new and useful Improvements in Powder-Grains; and I do herebydeclare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of theinvention such as will enable others skilled in the art to which itappertains to make and use the same.

My invention relates to an improved powder in which the powder-grain ismade up of a single strip or plate of colloid material which is bentinto approximately parallel layers. In practice I preferably constitutethe entire charge of a single grain; but, if desired, a plurality ofthese grains may be used to form the charge, which may be securedtogether or assembled in any convenient way.

My invention will be understood by reference to the accompanyingdrawings, in which the same parts are indicated by the same lettersthroughout the several views.

factured before bending.

a portion of the plate shown in Fig. l'bentinto parallel layers toconstitute a single grain Figure 1 represents a flat plate of thepowder-colloid in the form in. which it is manu- Fig. 2 represents orforced through adie of similar shape. Fig. 3 represents a part of thegrain similar to that shown in Fig. 2, except that spacers are put in;and Fig. 4 represents one of the spacers which may be used in the deviceshown i Fig. 3.

7 When the plate is bentupon itself, as indicated in Fig. 3, it may bedesirable to put in spacers B, which maybe either in the form of smallblocks or long strips, and there may be any desired number of these.These spacers should preferably be made of the same material as thepowder itself, so that the entire mass may be consumed, If preferred,cord or other inflammable material may be inserted, or, if'desired,these spacers may be put in when the plate is first bent in shape andafterward removed. It will be obvious that it is desirable to keep theflat surface of the plate from coming in contact, and thus secure theinstantaneous ignition of all these surfaces.

. of the plate may be arranged relative to the length and the diameterof the bore, so that the charge may be entirely consumed at practicallythe instant that the projectile leaves the gun. When the diameter of thegrain is equal to that'of the powder-chamber, which will be thepreferred form, each particle of the powder will maintain its relativeposition until the en tire charge 1s consumed.

By either arrangement shown in Fig. 2 or Fig. 3 the pressure will beuniform throughout the whole space of the powder-chamber, there being anopen passage externally from the interior of the grain, and consequentlyany tendency to rupture the partsof the powder-grain due toirregularities of internal combustion and incident irregularities inpressure would be obviated.

Furthermore, it will be obvious that a powder-grain so manufactured maybe readily and uniformly dried and that any tendency to distortion indrying will have no effect, since the combustion takes place on planesurfaces. It will also be obvious that the powder-grain so constructedmay be very cheaply and economically manufactured and may be readily andconveniently handled. It will be seen that the entire surface of thepowder grain or charge will be instantaneously reached by the ignitioncharge. In ordinary'practice at the present time the forward portion ofthe powder charge is ignited byflame from the rear portion of saidcharge, which in turn is ignited by the ignition charge, and 'so theignition is progressive from rear to front, whereas with a powder chargeconstructed as herein described the ignition is instantaneous throughoutthe entire charge. Furthermore, by having the charge made up of a singlebent plate fitting snugly in the powder-chamber, which is ordinarilylarger than the bore of the gun, the powder charge is held against beingpushed bodily forward in the bore of the gun.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim, and desire to secureby Letters Patent of the United States, is-

-1. A powder-grain composed of a single plate of colloid material bentinto approximately parallel layers, having the spaces between adjacentlayers open laterally and longitudinally, substantially as described.

2. A powdergrain composed of a single plate of colloid material bentinto approximately parallel layers having the spaces between adjacentlayers open laterally and longitudinally, with spacers interposedbetween said layers, substantially as described.

3. A powder charge consisting of a single grain composed of a singleplate of colloid material bent into approximately parallel layers,having the spaces between adjacent layers open laterally andlongitudinally, substantially as described.

CLELAND DAVIS.

I Witnesses:

FRANK D. BLACKISTONE, FRED WV. ENGLERT.

